


Here's To My Yesterday

by cantthinkofausername_B_Pike



Series: Carry On Countdown 2017 [29]
Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Agatha Finds Out TM, Background Relationship, Carry On Countdown, Fluff, Gen, Just Friendship, M/M, holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 17:06:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13127940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cantthinkofausername_B_Pike/pseuds/cantthinkofausername_B_Pike
Summary: One year later, Agatha decides to come back to England for Christmas and reconnect with her friends from Watford.Carry On Countdown Day 30: Anniversaries.





	Here's To My Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> It's the last day of the Countdown! That means it's... SNOWBAZ DAY! And so of course I write an Agatha POV fic.  
> Title from Yesterday by Imagine Dragons

When the Mage killed Ebb, Agatha ran. She’d never wanted to be a hero, never wanted to be involved in this whole messy world of magic and plots and danger. The magical world was torn between the Mage and the Old Families, but Agatha had never cared. She just wanted to be Normal. So when the time came, when she had to choose between being a magical hero and the person she’d always wanted to be, she ran.

Everyone hated her for it. Even her friends looked down on that choice, she knew. But she didn’t regret it. The world had been exploding around her, and she would never once regret deciding to save herself. Agatha saw the destruction from California, her safe place. The place where she was building a life she wanted for herself, one unburdened by expectations. She saw Simon lose his magic and be forced to rely on Penny to spell his wings invisible every day. She saw the power vacuum from the death of the Mage and the chaos following the disappearance of the Humdrum. But while her heart hurt for her friends, she saw all of this at a distance and remained thankful for it.

The longer she separated herself from their world, the more she missed it. Not magic, she knew she would never miss that. At first, her isolation had included radio silence to Penny and Simon, her best friends. After a year, Agatha decided it was time to change that.

She traveled back to England for Christmas. After last year’s horrific failure of a holiday season, she wanted to spend this one with her parents and have a normal holiday. Though her parents used magic, she knew they would respect her decision not to.

On a whim, she sent a quick text to Penny when her plane landed in London.

_From A: Back in the country for the holidays. Meet up sometime?_

In the taxi on the way to her parents’ house, Penny responded. It had been an hour or so, but then again she was never one for checking her phone.

From P: Sounds great! Dinner on the 23rd good for you?

_From A: Yeah. Send details and I’ll be there :)_

Agatha put down her phone and took a deep breath. It was the 21st, so she had two days. After a year, she didn’t know if she would still fit with Simon and Penny. She had changed a lot, and from what she heard, so had they. Hell, the entire _world_ had changed.

Her phone buzzed. Surely, it couldn’t be Penny again?

**From S: whoah ur back??? cool!!**

Agatha rolled her eyes. Simon was still incapable of spelling, punctuation, and generally using the English language correctly.

_From A: Yes, for the week. I assume Penny told you?_

**From S: yeee just now**

**From S: ur coming over??**

**From S: awesoem**

**From S: hows cali**

**From S: ?**

_From A: I am coming over in two days._

_From A: California is quite nice. I love it there. I would tell you more, but my phone is about to die._

**From S: ah sucks man**

**From S: well ttyl thn**

Agatha’s phone was not about to die. She just couldn’t deal with Simon right then, not when she was that nervous and jet lagged.

Nearly as soon as she arrived at her parents’ house, Agatha fell asleep. She spent most of the next day asleep, as well. California was eight hours behind England, and that was a major adjustment. When she finally woke up, she made and decorated Christmas cookies with her parents, an activity that seemed a little childish now, but had become a tradition over the years. She missed Penny decorating hers in wild colors and, irritating as it always had been, urging her to choose a different color than pink.

As much as she tried to not think about it, Agatha couldn’t help but grow increasingly nervous as the evening of the 23rd grew closer. Not thinking about things had always been more of Simon’s strong suit. How were her friends going to react to her? Did they resent her for leaving that day? She’d heard that Baz had become quite good friends with them, would he be there? (She didn’t want him, not anymore. She wasn’t sure that she ever truly had. But she’d said some embarrassing things to and about him last year, things she would much rather forget.)

Before she knew it, she was climbing out of a taxi in front of Simon and Penny’s apartment. A light snow fell, melting into the gray puddles on the sidewalk. Their building was a far cry from her parents’ large house in the country. It was an ugly beige color with occasional stripes of dark she suspected were from gutter leaks, surrounded by copies of the same building. Balconies jutted out at random, most of which had towels hanging over the railing. It was the sort of place that Agatha never would have set foot in before last year. Holding her breath, she entered their code and pressed the buzzer. 

“Si? Penny?” She hesitantly asked the speaker.

“Agatha?” Penny’s voice crackled.

“Yes.” She swallowed, determined to push down her nerves. 

The gate creaked open. “6A,” came the speaker’s static-filled voice. “See you in a bit!”

Far above her, Simon leaned over the balcony rail to frantically wave hello. She waved back, smiling a little. When he turned to go back inside, she caught an inexplicable flash of red behind him.

A few minutes later, Penny opened the apartment door to utter chaos. Agatha shouldn’t have been surprised, given that Simon lived there too, but for some reason she hadn’t expected all of this. Christmas music blared from a small Bluetooth speaker on the table, which was set for four. Instead of getting a bouquet or a normal decoration, a whole poinsettia sat in the middle of the table. A few messily wrapped presents lounged under the fake Christmas tree in the main room, and strings of twinkling lights hung everywhere. 

“Merry Christmas, Agatha,” Penny said.

Simon appeared out of nowhere. “Aggie!” He said enthusiastically as he barreled across the room to hug her. Behind him spread huge dragon wings, and his cartoon devil’s tail knocked into a chair. 

“Hello, Wellbelove,” Baz called from the kitchen. 

“This is the first time we’ve seen Agatha in a year,” Penny called back. “You could at least call her by her first name.”

Agatha could hear the laughter in Baz’s voice as he responded, “Seems like a bit much to ask, Bunce.”

Penny rolled her eyes, despite the fact that he couldn’t see her.

Simon disappeared into the kitchen. Agatha poked her head in to find the source of the loud clanging noise and saw Simon’s wings banging into nearly everything in the room. She smiled. Even a year later and with no magic, he was still hopelessly clumsy. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at Penny when she saw Simon’s tail curl around one of Baz’s legs. 

During the beginning of dinner, Simon peppered Agatha with questions about California. What her life was like, what she did, and about her puppy. She obliged, knowing that he wouldn’t have so many questions if she hadn’t practically dropped off the face of the earth last December. She also suspected that Simon was curious about how she lived without magic, as he was now also faced with doing the same. Occasionally Penny would ask something, or interject if one of Simon’s questions got too crazy. Baz never said anything except sarcastic comments, but she still got the sense that he fit. That the three of them were a group that she wasn’t a part of anymore. 

“Simon, this isn’t an interrogation,” Penny reminded him after a while.

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Agatha reassured him. “What’ve you been up to here?”

Simon launched into a story about starting college, a story to which Baz apparently had several things to add. As they spoke, Agatha studied them. Simon was taller, though not by much, than he had been. He wasn’t horrifically skinny anymore, he actually looked healthy. His hair was going everywhere, and he had a bit of mashed potatoes on his face that no one was bothering to tell him about. Baz looked the same as always, like death warmed over that somehow managed to be stunningly good-looking. The ever-present glare that had accompanied him through Watford was gone, replaced by a look of what could only be described as happiness. The two of them still looked at each other just as much as they had always done, only now the guise of plotting and magical war was gone. 

“When did you two start dating?” Agatha asked as soon as Simon had finished his story, in which he had completely neglected to mention what was obviously going on and had instead made it sound as though Baz was a close friend. Both of them turned bright red.

“Wha – how?” Simon stammered.

“You’re obvious,” Agatha stated.

“Last year,” Penny said.

“A year ago tomorrow,” Baz added.

“You got together on Christmas Eve?” Agatha exclaimed. “That is so cute! Wait, I saw you guys then. And you definitely weren’t together.”

“Um, we were,” Simon mumbled.

Baz nodded.

“I didn’t find out for a bit either,” Penny said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Agatha asked.

“You left,” Baz explained. “California.”

Agatha raised an eyebrow at him. “I was at your house. I have been here for a couple hours now. Is it a secret or something?”

“No,” Baz said immediately.

“They’re disgustingly affectionate. All the time,” Penny rolled her eyes.

“It was a secret, last year,” Simon began.

“But now we didn’t know how you would take it,” Baz continued.

“They didn’t tell people until the Leaver’s Ball,” Penny interjected.

“Since we used to be together and you used to like him,” Simon finished, ignoring Penny.

Agatha grinned and shook her head. “You two finish each other’s sentences. That is so cute. Seriously, I’m happy for you.”

Simon smiled and took Baz’s hand. “Thanks, Aggie.”

“This year, I want to hear about stuff,” she chided. “Just because I’ll be in California doesn’t mean I’m dead.”

“Yes, mom,” Penny joked.

The four of them stayed gathered around the small table in the cramped room long after all the food had been eaten, catching up on the last year. Occasionally, Simon’s wings would bump into something and everyone would wince. When the conversation died down and Simon started yawning, Agatha hugged everyone goodbye.

“See ya,” Simon mumbled sleepily. “Merry Christmas!”

“It was nice seeing you,” Penny said. “When are you going back to California?”

“In a few days. We could all get together again, if you want.”

“Sounds great! Night, Agatha.”

“See you, Wellbelove.”

“Can’t you call anyone by their first name?!” Penny laughed.

“Nope.” Baz flicked her arm, then waved to Agatha. “Merry Christmas.”

In the taxi back home, Agatha smiled out at the night. She might have been gone for a year, and things might have changed, but they hadn’t completely grown apart. This was a good way to start a year, she thought. Maybe this year, she won’t be running.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this whole fic planned out where it was Simon on the anniversary of Ebb's death/the day he lost his magic. And then I wrote this instead. Whoops, my hand slipped. (for almost 2000 words).  
> And so concludes the Countdown! I can't believe I managed to do all 30 days! Comments/Kudos make my day!


End file.
